Physical fitness and health concerns are among the areas of highest concern among people in the world today. More than ever, people are frequenting health clubs and performing exercise routines at home in order to lose weight, improve muscle tone, and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Many people turn to exercise routines that are performed in a pool due to their low impact properties, which reduces the occurrence of muscular-skeletal side effects. Most of these routines or exercises require the user to stay in one place, such as while swimming in place, or performing balancing type routines. In such cases, the users attempt to stay in position by holding onto the side or edge of the pool.
One (1) problem associated with such pool exercises is that the grip afforded by the edge of the pool is often insufficient to secure a person, largely due to its flat contours and lack of suitable gripping materials. Additionally, the surface may be slippery due to the fact that it is covered in water. Another frequently encountered difficult is when there exists a large difference between the water line and the top edge of the pool. Lack of proper grip severely inhibits both the range of available suitable exercise routines and the effectiveness of those which are undertaken.
Various attempts have been made to provide gripping devices to aid a user during exercise routines. Examples of these attempts can be seen by reference to several U.S. patents. U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,031, issued in the name of Olschewski, describes a pool exercise device which provides a rotatingly height adjustable horizontal bar gripping means which is detachable from a pair of supports installed within the wall of a pool.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,306,217, issued in the name of Bracone, describes a swimming pool ballet bar which is attached to a flat ground surface adjacent to a pool structure and which provide a horizontal gripping bar near a wall of the pool for aid in performing pool exercises.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,407,405, issued in the name of Oren, describes a grip handle for physical exercises which provides a rotating handle mounted along a vertical surface.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives, each of these references suffer from one (1) or more of the aforementioned disadvantages. Many such devices are not suitable for use in water. Also, many such devices require permanent installation in a pool or the like. Furthermore, many such devices do not allow a full range of adjustability and motioning for a user's arms during use. In addition, many such devices are not readily usable and reusable in a large range of desired locations or positions. Accordingly, there exists a need for an exercise gripping device without the disadvantages as described above. The development of the present invention substantially departs from the conventional solutions and in doing so fulfills this need.